Apron and cup supporting device.



E. BJPHILIP. APRON AND GU? SUlPOBTING DEVICE. uruoumu mum mm: a, 1912'Patented Mar. 31, 1914.

El hill srnrns ERNEST R. IEILIP, OF ATLANTA, GEORGIA, ASSIGNOR 'IOAMERICAN Cfillll OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPQRAT'ION OF NEVJ JERSEY.

APRON AND CUP SUPPORTING DEVXCE.

To all whom it may 0/? com Beit known that I, Emsss'r R. PriiLir, acitizen of the Unite States, residing in Atlanta, in the county ofFulton and State of Georgia, have invented a new and useful Improvementin Apron and Cup Supporting Devices, of which the following is aspecifloat-ion.

This invention relates to improvements in combined sap apron and cupsupporting devices and relates more particularly to devices of the'typeindicated which are used in collecting turpentine by the cupping method,as distinguished from the box cutting method, although the improvementsare susceptible of use in other ways, as will be obvious to thoseskilled in the art.

It has formerly been customary to support the aprons and collecting cupsused in gathering sap from trees in either of two Ways, the first ofwhich consists in sustaining the weight of the cup and contents by meansof nails or similar devices driven into the tree and on which the cupsrest, and having the apronsstuck into a cut in the tree and supported inthat manner; and the second of which consists in forming a deep cut inthe tree and securing the apron therein and supporting the cup by theapron.

The first method described presents many objections, since itnecessitates the several operations of driving in a plurality of nailsat each tree, gushing the tree and inserting the apron and placing thecup, and the result is that, with unskilled labor, generally negroesemployed in this work, the apron and cup are not properly placedrelatively to each other, oftentimes resulting in a Waste of sap, andwhen the cups are removed from thenails or other supportin members, thelatter are left in the trce,w%ich subse-v quently causes damage to thesaws When the trees are beirg cut at the saw mills. v,

With the second method, above described, an excessively deep gashextending Well into the body of the tree below the bark is required inorder to oroperly hold the apron and the Wei ght of the cup andcontents, and

the formation of this deep gash requires special tools and requiresconsiderable time, and it often occurs that the cup and apron become,dislodged from the tree when. the cup becomes partially filled, due tothe fact that the apron has been previously loosened during theoperations of emptying the cups.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed June 8, 1912.

Patented Serial No. 702,4?(1

As is well known in this art, especially in connection withturpentinecollecting, the apron and cup are lllfiVfll tlp the tree eachyear for scvc'al years, and hence with the old methods of collecting thesap by eupping, as hereinbefore described, it will be seen that eachyear the some troubles are encountered and the objectionable featuresmultiplied each time that the and apron are moved. V

The object of my invention is to provide a device which will be freefrom all the fore-- going indicated objectionable features, and whichmaybe used with'any of thc common forms of apron and cup now in. use,and which will materially reduce the cost of labor required. to set up,allow of easy adjustment of the apron at any time relatively to thecupfabsolutely prevent possibility of metal being left in the treesafter the tapping of the trees has been completed, and also preventdamage or unnecessary n'iutilation of the tree.

The invention furthermore consists in the improvements in the parts anddevices and in the novel combinations of parts devices herein shown,described or claimed.

In the drawing forming a part of specification, Figure 1 is a sideelevation of a portion of a tree showing my improve ments in connectiontherewith. Fig. 2 is a vertical section, taken on the line 5---2 ofFig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detail, perspective. view of the improved combinedapron. cup support, and Fig. 4 is a detail perspective View of amodified form of the support,

In the drawing, A denotes the combined apron and cup support, the sameconsis ing of a horizontal portion 10 and two vertical end portions 11,11, each of these portions beingprovided with an inner face having aplurality of incisions or notches 12, 12 in which the outer edge 13,015the apron 14. is adapted to be adjusted. intermediate the horizontalportion 10 and each of the vertically extending" portions 11, isprovided a.

hook portion 15 and a loop or eye 16, the,

hook lobeing adapted to engage under the inner rin'1'17 of a cup 18, andthe eyes or loops 16 being adapted to receive nails and to be therebysecured to the i will of course be obvioi'ls that the size nail cannotpass therethrough, when the support A. 1s removed ggg 1,091,698

tree, the nails 19 must necessarily be removed with the support, andthereby prevent the possibility of any metal being left in the treebefore the same is cut down and shipped to the saw mills.

In Fig. 4, the modified form is shown as provided with a single bookportion 20 and a single eye or loop 21 and a pair of spaced, verticallyextending portions 22, 22 adapted to engage the outer edge of the apron.

In usin my invention, the barks of the trees are first provided withhorizontal gouges 23 and a plurality of converging gouges 24 by asuitable tool, not shown, after which the supports are nailed in placeand then the cups and aprons properly positioned, and. as will beobvious, the slope of the apron may be adjusted. as desired, and theouter edge will always be in proper relation to the cups, and .due tothe inherent resiliency of the vertically extending members of thesupport, the apron will be held I in proper position on the tree Withoutthe necessity of gashes or cuts, such as have hitherto been customary.

Various changes and modifications may be made in the details ofconstruction without departing lroin the spirit of the invention, andall such changes and variations are conten'iplated as .fall within thescope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim 1. A support of the class described adapted to be secured to atree and having two portions spaced from each other and each providedwith a face adapted to engage an edge of an apron and to cooperatewith-the tree to retain the apron in position, substantially asspecified.

2. A support of the class described comprising a member having twoseparated, cup supporting hooks, said member being-also provided withmeans formed integrally therewith and located adjacent each of saidhooks by which the support may be secured to a tree, substantially asspecified.

3. A support ol the class described adapted to be secured to a tree, andhaving two portions spaced from each other, each provided with a faceadapted to engage an edge of an apron, and having also another portionadapted to engage and support a cup, all of said portions beingintegrally formed, substantially as specified.

4. A support of the classdescribed, adapt-I ed to be secured to a treeand having. two portions spaced from each other, each provided with aface adapted to engage an edge of an apron, and having also two otherportions spaced from each other, adapted to engage and support a cup,all of said portions being integrally formed, substantially asspecified.

5. A support of the class described, hav- .ing two portions spaced fromeach other,

each provided with a face adapted to, engage.

an edge of an apron and an eye or loop formed integrally with saidportions, said eye or loop being adapted to receive a nail, whereby thesupport may be attached to the tree, substantially as specified.

G. A support of the class described, having two portions spaced fromeach other,

each. provided with a face adapted to engage an edge of an apron, saidsupport having formed integrally with saidapron engaging portions, twoeyes or loops spaced from each other, said eyes or loops being adaptedto receive nails, whereb the support ma be secured to a tree, sutantially as spcci ed.

7. A support ofthe class described, having two portions spaced from eachother and each having a face adapted to engage an edge of an apron, saidportions having integrally formed therewith a hook adapted to engage andsupport a cup,'said portions being inherently resilient, and means oneach of said faces whereby the apron may be adjusted thereon,substantially as specified.

8. A support of the class described, having two portions spaced fromeach other and each provided with a face adapted to engage an edge of anapron, said support having two hooks adapted to engageand 'support acup, and a pair of spaced eyes or loops. integrally formed with theapron engaging portions, said portions being inhcrcntl'y resilient,andeach of said eyes be ing adapted to receive a nail, whereby thesupport may be secured to a tree, substantially as specified. nnnhs'r R.PHILIP.

Witnesses I i W. HOWARD SMrrir, C.-M. FALL.

